Ecstasy
by Nina Elric
Summary: He barely heard a word they were saying. Between the heavy bass music and the look in her beautiful eyes, Jack was lost. Why did they come back now? He was really getting in control of his life and now this happened. Jack abuse and Kimiko bastardizing
1. There she was

**A/N: **This is a serious JackKim pairing. I don't do lemons. I leave that to your imagination. I set you up and you run with it. Takes place in the future, after where the series ends. Everyone's about 21 in this fic, so they be all growed up!

**Summary:** He barely heard a word they were saying. Between the heavy bass music and the look in her beautiful eyes, Jack was lost. Why did they come back now? He was really getting in control of his life and now this happened.

Yup, another "Jack _must_ suffer!" fic. Different from _Jack_ promise!

**Warning:** Kimiko bastardizing. She's a real bitch here. Don't get me wrong, I like Kimi, but I purposely messed with her personality. Character death! Not a one-shot! I love writing _real_ angst!

Anyway, enough ranting. I, the author, present:

**Ecstasy**

_The Jackophile_

The club was packed, but not enough to refuse four more entry. They filed in and sat down at the bar. After ordering their respective drinks, they began to look around. Like everyone else, they were searching for familiar faces, but unlike all the others in the sea of faces, they recognized one.

"Jack?" she said down the row of people that accompanied them at the bar.

Several heads turned, but not the one she was addressing. At the far end of the bar sat a red headed young man with a pair of yellow plasticated goggles slid down over his eyes.

She waved away the other faces and stood up to move down the line.

"Jack? Is that you?"

Slowly, he tuned around to her.

"Depends on what day of the week. Today's Friday, so… Yes, I'm Jack. Why do you ask?"

"Don't you recognize me?"

"Not really. But then again the lighting's pretty bad…"

"Why not those piss tinted goggles off and look me in the face?"

He reached up and picked the goggles from his eyes and placed them at the top of his head.

"It _is_ you! Guys, over here! It's Jack!"

"Oh hey!" A tall, slim boy said.

After several pats on the back a glum look came over the pale boy's face.

"What's wrong?" they laughed.

"Nothing. I just thought I'd lost you guys over the years."

"Lost us?"

"Ya know… You forgot about me?"

"No Jack! If anything, we missed you!" She was grinning.

"Oh," he sighed, "So what brings you four here?"

"Shen Gong Wu!"

Out of her pocket she pulled what looked like a jewel encrusted bangle.

"Nice. You still in that business?"

"It's kinda part time at this point."

"Yeah," the southern boy drawled, "After the first few years, things slowed down."

"So _now_ if we get a Shen Gong Wu, we take our time getting it. I mean they _are _virtually useless at this point," the tall boy explained.

"Yeah," she sighed.

He barely heard a word they were saying. Between the heavy bass music and the look in her beautiful eyes, Jack was lost. Why did they come back now? He was really getting in control of his life and now this happened. A chapter of his life that he had long thought of as forgotten just reopened in a blast of regret and sorrow.

"Wow, this really is a vacation! We should celebrate!"

"Kimiko…" the word drooled from his mouth.

"Yes?"

"Huh?" he was drunk, "Nothing. Really," and tired.

"I say ice cream!"

"Omi?" Jack looked down at a yellow person who stood at about his shoulders.

"Yes."

"Six years did a lot for you," Jack forced a small chuckle, "Still no hair though," he said as he messaged Omi's bare scalp.

Omi growled.

"So, yeah," Clay sighed, "Ice cream sounds pretty good right about now."

"You wanna come, Jack?"

Her voice. Old memories and desperate thoughts returned to him.

"Yeah," he said slowly, his mind barely functioning.


	2. Monkey Staff

It had been six years since Jack had seen them. In that time, they were Masters; experts at all forms of martial arts. They had won the battle of good and evil. They still collected the magical Shen Gong Wu.

Jack was kicked out at 18. His parents cut him off almost entirely. He lived in a tiny apartment with a lousy roommate. He had a job. Three, to be exact. He had just enough money to get by. He still had one Shen Gong Wu.

Ah, the Monkey Staff. The only thing left from his Shen Gong Wu days. Somehow, the Xiaolin Warriors had never figured out that he still had it. Or maybe they just left him alone. Either way, Jack was happy to have something from the good old days.

It had been six years since the last time his poor mind worried about his dear Kimiko. He loved her so much. But, what does a 15 year-old boy do to show his love? Kidnap her? Swamp her with subliminal messages? Openly admire her? What? Say it? Tell her that he loved her? What a dangerous proposition. He knew that she never really liked him. But what if she got to know him? That was the problem. No one really knew him, even to this day. An enigma in his own mind and to those around him. Six years hadn't changed anything. He was apparently still in love with Kimiko and he apparently still had no idea of how to go about courting her. He wondered if she even found him attractive. Or noticed his newer physique? Work put stress on him. Hence, all that baby fat and teenaged flab melted away into fairly well-carved muscles. He was impressed, but was she? She _was_ the one who found him in a sea of people. Maybe there was hope. Maybe there wasn't. Not all of his physical changes were for the better. Either way, he was just happy to be at her side.

At the ice cream parlor, the four dragons sat at a booth and Jack pulled a chair up to the end of the table.

"Mmmm, Banana Sundae, my fave!" he smiled as he sat at the table.

"Good thing it's still your favorite," she smiled, "We weren't sure of what you would like."

Jack stopped shoving the food into his mouth and paused to swallow.

"What do you want from me?" His face was hot and he could feel his heart sink into the pit of his gut.

"Nothing," she laughed, "We missed your sorry ass, that's all."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Rai said as he waved his spoon, "By the way, we know you have the Monkey Staff."

Jack's face turned red.

"Yeah," he said nervously, "Sorry about not returning that…"

"Like you'd return anything," she chuckled, "Nah, don't worry about it. We weren't exactly worried about what you would do with it."

"Gee, thanks," he whined.

Across the room, a young boy saw something flick out from beneath Jack's jacket.

"You weren't exactly on our list of 'Most Wanted Heylin,'" Rai teased.

"You calling me a loser?"

"I didn't use that word, no. I'm just saying that you weren't exactly 'in the know' enough to figure out how to use the Monkey Staff for evil," Rai explained.

"We felt it was better off in your, incapable hands than in Wuya, Chase, or Hannibal's, no offense," Clay said.

"None taken. In fact, I'm…"

Jack jumped from his chair with a shriek of pain. He lashed around violently to find a little boy looking at him with big, frightened eyes.

"Oh my God, Jack," Kimiko said slowly, as if reading the boy's mind, "You have a tail…"

He shrieked, "No kidding! And this _brat_ just pulled it!"

The boy was on the verge of tears when his mother appeared behind him and dragged him away by the shoulders.

"Mommy," he heard the boy murmur, "That man had a monkey's tail…"

"Monkey's tail, huh?" she stood with her arms folded across her chest.

"Looks like someone got too attached to the Monkey Staff," Rai taunted.

"Ooo, do you not see the irony?" Omi was nearly hysterical, "Jack always acted like a monkey, and now he really _is_ a monkey!"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Jack sneered, "I'm out of here."

Jack moved to leave, but Kimiko stopped him.

"Let us give you a ride home," her smile was so infectious, "I mean we have Dojo…"

"Yeah, and he could really use some exercise," Rai laughed.

"I do not!"

A chunky Dojo slithered out from underneath Clay's hat.

"Hi, Dojo," Jack waved sheepishly.

"I am _not_ out of shape!"

"Then I guess you won't mind taking a little side trip to drop Jack off at his house," so beautiful…

"That's way out of the way…" Dojo winced at the thought of giving that much extra effort.

"Not really," Jack saved the poor dragon, "I live in an apartment on Main Street. I'll show you how to get there… if… you want to take me?"

"Oh sure!" Kimiko answered for the dragon, "We'll take you!"


	3. Tomorrow

**A/N: **I forgot to add in the first chapter that there is an OC. He's temporary, and fairly minor. I use him as a catalyst. You don't know how much I hate myself for having to create a character to make my story move. Oh, well. Deal.

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Dojo stopped above a third story fire escape platform. Jack hopped off his back and turned to the others.

"I'd invite you to come in, but my roommate's an asshole," he sighed.

"Well," Kimiko jumped off Dojo, "Maybe next time we can do a bit more, you know, something planned?"

At first, Jack honestly assumed that she was hinting at a date.

"What do you have in mind?" he slurred.

"A tour! How about you give us a tour of your new home town!" she suggested, "We could go clubbing or something."

Why did she sound that way?

"Kimiko?" Jack laughed, "This is Tokyo," she blushed, "I think you know this place far better than I do."

Kimiko's lip twitched a bit. Raimundo nearly fell off Dojo's back with laughter.

"Well, then, I'll take _you_ on a tour, how's that sound?"

"I've been living here for almost three years. I know it pretty well," he stifled a laugh.

Kimiko could feel her face on fire. Jack saw her anger. He didn't' want her to leave upset, so he came up with an idea.

"How about a walk? We can go for a walk. There's a place that I like to hang out at a lot, other than that club."

"Okay," she cheered up a bit, "That's what we'll do. All of us," she motioned to the others.

Jack's heart visibly shattered, "Oh," he said slowly, "okay…"

He looked to the other's on Dojo's back. Raimundo looked away and Clay shrugged. They had thought something different was happening as well. Jack slumped a bit.

"Good, when do you want to do it?" Kimiko was oblivious.

"Uh, tomorrow?" it just kinda slipped from his lips. It was a sort of Freudian moment. He wanted to see her again tomorrow, so that's what he said, even though he was really hoping to get out of the whole thing.

"Hm," Kimiko looked at her PDA, "If there aren't any Shen Gong Wu, then we're in business. What time?"

"Out here at about, seven? I guess."

"Seven's good," she logged it away.

"So…" Jack said after some silence.

"We should get back," Raimundo said.

"Yeah, I guess," Kimiko mounted Dojo, "See ya' tomorrow, Jack!"

With that, Dojo took off.

Jack sighed and turned to the door behind him. With a deep breath, he turned the knob and went into his apartment.

"Hey, Jack," his roommate sat lazily on the couch.

"Hi," he mumbled before wandering into his room.

"So where'd you go?"

"To the club again."

"What did you do?"

"Drank."

"Who were you talking to out there?"

"I met some old friends…"

"Is that so?"

Jack nodded slowly.

"Your tail's showing."

Jack looked behind himself. There it was, fury and brown. It flicked through the air as if it had a mind of its own. He sighed and shoved it back under his coat.

"I hate that thing," his roommate growled as he stood up.

"Yeah, well, I don't like it much either."

His roommate lit a cigarette, "We could always chop it off," he suggested with the stick in his mouth.

"N-No, I don't hate it that much…"

"Yeah? Or are you just a wuss? All talk and no show? Listen, Spicer, if that tail bothers me anymore, you either get rid of it, or you're out of here, get it?"

Jack wanted to cry, "Yeah."

Once he was finally in his room, Jack shut the door and sat on his bed. He sniffed to hold back his tears. He wished that he could just leave, but who else out there would accept a monkey-tailed freak like himself? Kimiko would… He didn't want to live with her though, that would ruin all his fantasies. Maybe if he _did_ cut it off, things would be better. Across the room, leaning in a corner, was the Monkey Staff. The bane of his existence. He decided that he'd return it to the monks when he saw it tomorrow night. He hated it for what it had done to him. Moreover, he hated himself for letting it happen. What happened, happened. He was stuck with the consequences of his actions.

The tail crept out from beneath his jacket and slowly wrapped itself around his waist as if to comfort him.

"Yeah, well it's all your fault," he wheezed to it.

Jack smiled. He'd see the monks again soon. He didn't feel like a freak when he was with them. He looked forward to being treated like a normal human being again.

He laid down on his bed. Old memories of Kimiko danced through his mind as he drifted off to sleep.


	4. A Night Out

"Hey, faggot, there's someone at the door for you. Some girl lookin' for you…"

Jack ran through the apartment.

"You're early," he panted.

"Sorry, but I've been a little edgy lately. The opportunity for some action is way to appealing to wait."

"I get ya'," Jack grabbed his coat, "Where are the others?"

"Outside with Dojo, c'mon!"

Jack ran out the door and down the fire escape.

"Hey, Dojo," he greeted the dragon with a smile.

"Where to?" the dragon sneered.

"Downtown!"

Jack got on behind Kimiko. Wrapping his arms around her waist he felt his body right up against hers. A shot of emotions ran through him, but he stifled it before anything came of it.

Dojo took off into the air and flew to the heart of Tokyo.

"Look," Kimiko pointed, "There's my dad's company!"

Jack smiled.

After they dismounted Dojo, Jack lead them to a small sushi bar.

"I love this place," he nearly shrieked, "Don't some here much, but I _love_ their California Rolls!"

Kimiko laughed as they assembled at the sushi bar.

"Do monkeys eat fish?" Omi asked loudly.

Jack choked on his saliva as he turned to Omi, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"'Scuse me, can I, uh, get you something?" the sushi chef asked over the bar.

"The usual for me," Jack smiled.

"Oh, Jack. I don' recognize you with the, uh, smile and all…"

"Ha ha," Jack sneered.

"He never smiles," the chef laughed.

Jack growled. Kimiko laughed and all his embarrassment faded away.

"Anyone else?" the chef asked.

"Uh yeah. I'll have three kamikaze rolls," Rai said as he read the menu.

"I'll have and unagi hand roll with yellow-tail sashimi," Kimiko smile.

"You like unagi?" Jack asked stupidly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Is anything here not raw fish?" Omi cringed.

"Yeah, they have tempura and teriyaki," Jack explained.

"Ooo, what are those?"

"Pick a veggie or meat and for a tempura they fry it and they grill a teriyaki."

"Mmm, I'll have a beef teriyaki," Clay ordered.

"I want tempura," Omi thought aloud, "With clams!"

"Clams?" Rai laughed.

"And some shrimp too!"

"Omi, you can't have shrimp," Jack shook his head.

"Why not?" Omi cried.

"Because that would be cannibalism."

Omi growled and Jack chuckled. He looked to Kimiko for a reaction, but she was busy reading the menu. His smile quickly faded and he picked the menu up himself.

"Can I get a bowl of meso soup?" Kimiko asked.

"Me, too," Jack added.

"Sure thing," the chef called to the kitchen.

Jack sat contently at Kimiko's side. He lost track of time as he sat staring at her latest hair-do. It was a bright red, much like his own. She had most of it hanging over her face with a small clip with a bow on it, clipping the rest to the back of her head.

"Pretty…" He sighed.

"What?" Kimiko turned to him.

"Sake, we need sake," Jack said hurriedly, "Large sake, please."

Night at the sushi bar went by rather slowly. Kimiko got snockered on sake. Jack felt bad. He was the one who ordered it, but she was the one who drank it.

Afterwards, they went to a small coffee shop, where Jack made a concerted effort to sober Kimiko up. She kept ordering coffee brandies and they kept giving them to her. Jack was getting pissed. Finally, he got up and went over to the waitress and told her to stop honoring Kimiko's orders, but did she listen?

They chose to walk back to his apartment. Kimiko needed the fresh air and exercise anyway. On their way down the main drag, Raimundo spotted a Dance Dance Revolution station.

"Hey. Monkey boy," Jack turned to him, "Can you dance?"

"I guess," jack thought.

"C'mon," Rai motioned to the station.

"Oh, I can't do that. I just ate…"

"Please, let's go."

Rai grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the machine.

"Alright, Jack. First one to lose balance and fall, loses."

"Uh, okay."

Rai fed it the money and chose their options. Jack was sweating with nervousness. He didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of Kimiko, but she was too out of to really tell. Besides, she probably wouldn't remember it anyway.

"Okay, Jack, ready?"

"Yeah, right," Jack's voice shook.

The game began and Jack started out slow. Rai moved way too smoothly. It was like he knew every step before it was coming. Jack struggled for a while until his tail crept out from beneath his coat. Once it was out, he felt a new sense of balance. After that, he left Rai in the dust.

"No fair," Rai panted, "Monkey butt!"

Jack smiled as he struggled to catch his breath.

"That was great Jack," Kimiko laughed as she wandered over to him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek. After she did, she didn't let go. Jack began to feel queasy. Between dinner, dissert, dancing, and his excited emotions, Jack was ready to puke. He pushed Kimiko away and emptied his stomach into a trash can. Kimiko stood behind him, tenderly scratching the back of his head. Outside of the terrible retching, Jack was overjoyed to feel her fingers against his scalp.

"God, I love you," he breathed as he rubbed his sore belly.

"I love you too Jack…"

For a moment, Jack questioned his reality. Had Kimiko just said that she loved him? No way. Not a chance. Not unless this was a dream. Jack's heart sank. He didn't want it to be a dream, but if it was, he wasn't about to let it end.

He turned to her and wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. He smiled at her softly. She smiled back. His heart was beating so hard in his chest. Grabbing her tiny shoulders, Jack moved in to kiss her, but she looked down to rummage through her purse. Jack felt embarrassed. As he was about to let go, she popped a breath mint into his mouth and smiled sheepishly.

"Okay," he murmured as he chewed it, "Fair enough."

Once he was done, he leaned in and was surprised to find that she leaned in as well. Their lips met and a powerful glow filled all of Jack. He let his hands slide from her shoulders and down her sides, caressing her waist. Her tongue in his mouth was the most amazing thing he had ever felt. He wanted to go further, but he knew he had no place to. Pressing his body against hers, he felt the urges grow stronger. Finally, he couldn't take the overload and pushed her away lightly.

"I'm sorry," he breathed.

But the feeling didn't go away. Blood was still rushing through him. He thanked god that his coat was as loose as it was.

"We done?" Dojo asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah," Kimiko said nervously as she turned to him, "Let's go."

Jack felt so stupid. She hated him now, and he knew it. After tonight, he never wanted to see her again. He didn't even want to think about it.

Unfortunately, he sat behind Kimiko of Dojo's back, maybe it was better that way. As he saddled up, she turned to look back at him with a wry smile on her lips. Jack was embarrassed, but he had to hold on to her for fear of falling off of Dojo's back.

"Aren't you friendly, Spicer?" She slurred.

"Sorry…"

She reached behind herself and grabbed him. His eyes bulged a bit, but he was quickly calmed by the though of it being Kimiko who was touching him this way. He nearly melted to butter. Thankfully, they reached his apartment before he slid off Dojo completely.

"Anyone wanna come in?" he asked.

"You're roommate's a jerk," Kimiko growled.

"He's out for the night, wanna come in?"

Kimiko hopped off next to him.

"I do," she purred before slamming him against the door as she kissed him. As Jack reached for the handle that was somewhere behind him, Kimiko reached down into his pants.

"Okay, I've seen enough," Raimundo gagged, "You guys have fun. Don't hurt her Jack."

Looking back, Rai realized that he probably should've said that to Kimiko.

Dojo took off to the sky and Jack finally got the door open.


	5. The Girl Who Cried Rape

Jack woke up the next morning looking up at the ceiling of his room. His freshly opened eyes, struggled to focus on anything. He was a bout to roll out of bed, when he realized that something, or someone, as it was, was holding him down. Jack froze as he turned to find the object of his adolescent love lying in the bed beside him. He lightly picked her arm off his chest and set it aside. Being careful not to wake her up, Jack got out of bed and put some distance between himself and the sleeping girl. No, she wasn't a girl. She was as much of a young woman as he was a young man. She was so peaceful lying there. It must've been a dream. Jack looked at his boxers thrown carelessly over the back of his desk chair.

"Shit," he cursed.

Intercourse was never anything Jack wanted to have. Make-out sessions were a big enough fantasy for him. His mind raced with a thousand consequences of their actions. Heat filled his face as he made his way over to the chair. As he reached out for the boxers, he stubbed his toe on the desk leg. He stifled a startled yelp by putting a hand over his mouth. It wasn't a dream and now Kimiko was stirring in the bed. He watched as she sat up slowly from the bed. Luckily she was facing away from Jack so he had time to put on his boxers.

"Where am I?" he heard her mumble, "What is this place?"

Jack watched her look around. He wanted to step forward to remind her of the previous night, but he was frozen stiff.

And then her eyes landed on him. A look of utter horror covered her face. Jack could see the tears welling in her eyes. Quickly, she pulled back the sheets and looked down at the rest of her body.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked, "Oh my fucking god! What did you do to me! What the fuck did you do to me!"

"K-Kimiko…" Jack didn't know what to say.

"You raped me, you fucking piece of shit! Where are the others! Take me home!"

"K-kimiko?"

"Shut up, you scumbag! Take me home! NOW!"

Jack backed into a wall.

"I didn't rape you…" he said timidly.

"There is no way in hell," she was screaming with tears running down her face, "that I would ever let a fucking shit-head like yourself even touch me! Get me out of here!" she screamed, "Please, someone help!"

Her face was red and the veins were sticking out of her neck.

Suddenly, Jack's roommate burst through the door.

"What's going on?" he bellowed.

Kimiko pointed a shaking finger at Jack.

"He raped me!" she screamed, "He fucking raped me!"

She was hysterical.

Jack's roommate turned to find him cowering in a corner.

"What did I do wrong?" Jack whimpered.

Jack's tail wrapped timidly around his leg.

"Jesus Christ! You're not even human and you think you have the right to abduct people and fuck them?"

Jack's roommate came into the room, wrapped the sheets around Kimiko, and lead the crying woman out of Jack's room. The door slammed shut after them and Jack heard the lock click into place.

He sniffed. What had he done wrong? She said she loved him. She said she wanted him. She even said she needed him! Jack leaned back against the wall and slowly slid to the ground. He wanted to cry, but over what? You can't cry over spilt milk if you didn't even know that it had been spilt. His tail came up and tickled the corner of his mouth.

"Here," he heard his roommate say on the other side of the door, "Call someone to come and get you."

"Okay," he heard her sniff; she was calming down.

Jack crawled over to the door and laid down near the bottom crack to listen to the conversation. He listened as Kimiko dialed a number into the phone and waited for an answer.

"H-Hi, Rai," her voice shook, "I need help. Please come get me… I'm… You know? You left me here! Why the fuck… Just come get me!" she became hysterical again, "Jack… He fucking raped me! Please," she struggled to breath, "Help me!... Okay… Hurry…"

That was it. She hung up the phone and a few minutes later there was a green dragon with Raimundo on its back outside the fire escape. There was a knock on the door. Jack's roommate opened it and Rai ran in.

"Kimiko," he gasped as he found her huddled on the couch, "What happened?"

"It's Jack! That monster!" she panted, "I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!"

"What _happened,_ Kimiko?" Rai sat down softly beside her.

"He raped me! Oh, god, Rai," she smothered her face in his chest, "He raped me…"

"Kimiko," Rai sighed as he rested his chin on her head, "Let's go, okay?"

"Please!" she gasped, "I want to go home…"

Rai stood up and lead her to the door. Jack's roommate followed close behind.

"Thanks," he heard Raimundo say.

"No problem. I plan on getting to the bottom of this. That monkey-assed freak won't know what hit him."

Fear shot through Jack as he watched Raimundo walk out, closing the door behind himself. He was alone with his roommate now. He would suffer for most of the morning. Things hadn't been this bad since the first time the other man found out that he had a tail.

"Alright, Fag," he heard the man yell, "Let's get this over with, now!"

The door flew open and the beatings began. Jack was so much smaller than his roommate so making him hurt wasn't hard. The beatings weren't new, but they hadn't been so severe in years. Oh yes, a bad day at work was one thing, being accused of rape was completely different. Jack was sure he hadn't raped her… But she _had _been drunk… He took advantage of her at the least. Maybe he really was a monster. How rough had he been with her? He could barely remember. It was all a blur of flesh and movement. All he remembered was being in a constant state of pure ecstasy. What had he done wrong? Sure the injuries he was enduring hurt, but what hurt worse, was the fact that he didn't know what he had done wrong. He prayed that he'd never see Kimiko again.


	6. Round Two

He had an hour before he had to head off to his first job. He sat lazily on the couch watching mindless television. His body and mind were finally recovering from last week. Thus far, his prayer had held out. Kimiko had not re-entered his life. But he still wondered, once in a while, what he had done wrong. He could've sworn he felt passion that night, or was it only lust? He never came to a conclusion. He figured that if he never saw Kimiko again, there was no reason to even think about it. Getting to his feet, he heard someone knock at the door. Jack limped over to the door and looked out the spy window. It was Kimiko. His heart froze.

"No," he whispered as he turned away.

"Jack?" he heard her call, "You in there?"

What was she doing here? Had she already forgotten about what he had done to her? He chose to ignore it until she began beating on the door. Reluctantly, he opened it.

"Hey," she chirped, "Is everything alright? You haven't called me or anything. I figured we'd be up to date two or three by now. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Any color that was in his face was gone. What was going on here? What was happening?

"You gonna invite me in?" she laughed.

"I…" Jack opened the door a bit wider to let her in.

"Where's your roommate?" She asked as she hopped onto the couch.

"Working," he choked.

"You okay? Why are you limping like that?"

"Oh, I, uh…" What was he supposed to say? It didn't even seem like she remembered anything of what had happened. "It was part of my punishment…" That sounded stupid.

"For what?"

Jack wanted to remind her before it happened again.

"Raping you," he wheezed.

Kimiko winced at him, "What?" She laughed, "What are you talking about? Jack, I know you wouldn't do anything like that. We haven't even slept together yet! By the way, you dance pretty good. Maybe you should dance with _me_ next time."

Jack's mind was losing it.

"But, anyway," she said as she reached into her purse, "I brought you a gift."

She handed him a little box wrapped in red wrapping paper. Jack looked stupidly at the box in her hand and then at her face. He did that several times before taking the gift. He unwrapped it slowly. Kimiko looked on intently Once the paper was off, Jack opened the box. Inside of it was a little robot about the size of his hand. He dumped it out gently onto his lap.

"I figured you should have one. It's a minibot. My dad makes them. Just hold him in your hands and he'll turn into you."

Jack wasn't sure that the world needed two of him, but he did as he was told. The little robot shifted into an exact replica of himself, just smaller. As its eyes opened up it looked up at him.

"Why do you want to cry so badly?" it asked him.

Jack ignored it and turned to Kimiko.

"Thanks," he sighed.

"You're welcome," she chimed.

"Well, look, I was just off to work…"

"No problem," she stood up, "I'll let you go then."

"Thanks," he smiled.

She blew him a kiss and closed the door behind herself.

Jack stood dumbfounded with the toy in his hand. She didn't remember. She didn't remember any of what he had done to her. Maybe there was still hope then. He would try again and this time he'd do everything right. Or would that be taking advantage of her memory loss? It was too confusing.

"You love her too much," the tiny bot at his side said, "You should probably just le her go."

"Hey," Jack said, bringing the toy to eye level, "She made the first move, besides," he wanted to cry, "I want this to work."

"Yes, you _want_ it to work, but can it?"

Jack looked at the tiny thing.

"Who died and made you my shrink?"

"You did," it said softly.

Jack dropped the thing on the ground, got ready for work, and left.

The little robot wandered into Jack's room and climbed up onto his bed.

"I'm scared," it wept, "So very scared…"


	7. Phone Tag

Jack sat at home with the phone shaking in his hand. He wanted to call her to set up a date, a real one. With champagne and flowers. Fancy dinner and a movie if she felt like it. But he couldn't. He couldn't dial the number into the phone. He was still afraid to talk to her. He just sat at the edge of the couch with the phone held out before him.

His little robot walked up to him. Somehow it had managed to avoid being found by Jack's roommate. Jack smiled at the idea of having a secret.

"May as well call her," it shrugged, "That, or she'll call you and it'll be a disaster."

"I really think that there's something screwed up in your wiring," Jack glared at it.

"There is," it scrambled onto the couch, "I'm you."

Jack growled a bit.

After a long while, Jack found the courage to dial the number. The phone rang and rang, until finally, it was answered… by her voicemail.

"_Hi, you've reached the cell of Kimiko Tohomiko. Leave a message and, if I like you, I'll call you back as soon as possible!_"

"Hi, Kimiko," he said into the phone, "How about that second date? I know you asked the other day, but, please say late is better than never. Give me a call on my cell. Bye."

Jack hung up the phone. As he sat in awkward silence, he realized that he had never given Kimiko his cell number. He was about to call her back when the door to his apartment flew open. Jack dropped the phone and starred in horror at the look on his roommate's face. The minibot scrambled away and went under the couch.

"B-bad day?" Jack asked timidly.

"Sucked," the man spat, "I hope yours did too."

"It wasn't that great," Jack said softly.

"Good."

The giant man wandered into the kitchen where he retrieved a beer and came back out to face Jack.

"I'm not getting that raise," he said as he opened the can of beer, "So you better get another job."

"Okay," Jack nodded, "I'll look for one tomorrow."

"Yeah," the man scoffed as he drank his beer.

Jack wanted so badly to disappear just like his minibot had. Just crawl away into some deep, dark recess of the world where no one would ever find him.

"That hit the spot," his roommate sighed as he finished off his drink.

Wandering into the kitchen, he retrieved another. As he came back out, the phone began to ring.

"I'm not answering it," he growled. But he stood by it and waited to hear who it was.

The ringing stopped and the answering machine picked up.

"_Hi, Jack,_" His heart froze, "_Sorry I didn't answer before,_" she laughed over the phone, "_but I couldn't find my phone. Anyway, yeah, another date sounds nice,_" the rage in his roommate's face was terrible,"_How about Friday? I'll meet you there, at your place_," Jack tried to shrink back and hide in the couch, "_I want to do something special this time,_" Pain already flooded his body, "_So yeah, give me a call eventually. Talk to you soon, bye_." And that was it; she was gone now, leaving him with his abusive roommate.

"Who was that, Jack?" His roommate hissed.

"N-no one…"

"Oh yes," the man growled, "That was someone. Now, who was it?"

"A girl…"

"What girl? The girl you raped?"

Jack knew he'd be caught in a lie if he tried to, "Yes," he whimpered.

"How sick," his roommate put the can of beer down on the coffee table as he approached Jack, "You rape her and _then_ ask to go on a date?"

"I-it's not like that…" Jack started to cry.

"Is that so? Then explain it to me," his roommate sat beside him and motioned for him to speak.

"Well," Jack swallowed hard, "She stopped by the other day and it was like… like nothing happened… I mean, she remembered being with me, just not me raping her…"

"Sounds convenient," his roommate grumbled.

"Well, I don't know about convenient, but… I just want to try it one more time. I love her," he let out a raspy sigh, "So much. I want to be with her, not…"

"In her?" his roommate laughed, "Jack, you're an animal. If you want to fuck something, you will. If you love her, you should probably avoid another… _date_."

"You think so?"

"Yes," his roommate was unusually calm, "For the best."

Jack thought a minute. In a way, the man was right. He _was_ an animal and animals don't exactly have control over their sexual tendencies. Hence, a dog will hump its master's leg. So maybe it _would_ be best if Jack just canceled the date and tried to forget all about his dear Kimiko. He'd call her tomorrow, for the last time.

"Yeah," he rasped, "I'll cancel the date," he turned to his roommate, "Then everything'll be alright. I can't hurt her if I'm not _with_ her, right?"

His roommate nodded and stood up, "Right," he reached down to Jack.

"Right," Jack repeated as he took his roommate's hand.

Standing up, Jack felt his legs weaken, but his roommate's arm kept him from falling. The larger man lead him into his room where he closed the door behind them. A shrill scream filled the air and moans of pain followed shortly after. Jack's tail and heart were broken.


	8. Interlude with Emotions

After the beating, Jack's roommate had a change of heart. A disciplinary system was established. Jack could go on his date on Friday, but for each failure on his part, an inch of his tail would be cut off. Repeated assault would forfeit the tail entirely. After that, it was his life.

Jack sat on his bed sighing.

"At least you get to go," the minibot smirked beside him, "You won't fuck up; I know it! I have full faith in you!"

"You're worse than those stupid Cheer-bots I made once."

"You love me, though, don't you?"

"Well, let's see. You're a miniature replica of myself. Right now, I'm not feeling too good about myself. So your answer is… no."

"Oh," the bot said, crestfallen.

As Jack stared at the tiny thing, he got a brilliant idea.

"You wanna go on the date with me?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I need a second set of eyes. I want to know what I'm doing wrong. How much footage can you're camera hold?"

"It's digital, so about forty hours."

"Awesome. Great, you're coming with me. You'll sit in my pocket and record everything."

"I guess…"

"What's the matter?"

"I… Wouldn't that be a violation of Kimiko's privacy?" the bot thought aloud.

"No," Jack spat, "This is nothing. This could prevent her from being taken advantage of again."

"But…"

"Shut up! You're coming," Jack stood up and walked over to his window.

The minibot shook its head.

"Jack," it whispered.

Jack didn't answer.

"Do you really want to kill yourself?"

Jack turned around suddenly.

"What? How'd you… That's… I don't…" he gave up with a defeated sigh.

"I'm in constant sync with your thoughts. I know what you were thinking and _I_ think it's a bad idea. You should go on the date. Kimiko obviously cares about you."

"But what if I hurt her again?" Jack spat.

"You won't…"

"How can I be sure? I didn't plan on hurting her the first time!"

"Well, you'll be in control this time. You'll be ready to deal with your emotions."

Jack cringed, "I hope so."


	9. The Second Date

Friday night came way too fast. Jack sat on the couch with a bouquet of red roses in his hand. He was getting dizzy from looking down at his watch too much. It was seven. She should be arriving soon. Jack felt the nerves in his stomach tighten when it turned to five after seven.

_Where is she?_

_Did she forget?_

_What if I was supposed to meet her somewhere?_

_What if she's sick? Or hurt?_

_What if she was already here and I didn't answer the door because…_

"You were sleeping?" the minibot finished for him.

Yes, sleeping. That was what Jack did when he wasn't working.

The tiny toy had on a plastered suit. Jack sat in his regular black coat with black pants and a black top underneath. He felt so ashamed, but he didn't exactly have a suit and with the extra job, he had no time to pick one up. He hoped that she wouldn't be dressed too seriously.

A knock came to the door and Jack nearly flew out of his seat. He slowed down as he approached the door; he didn't want to seem too desperate. Reaching out tenderly, he turned the knob. Bright red flooded his eyes. He took a step back.

"Hi," it was her.

She was wearing a red slip with limited accessories and make-up. Her hair was red again, only this time tied up in a bun on the back of her head.

"You ready?" she laughed.

"Y-Yeah sure. Just a sec."

Kimiko waited patiently at the door as Jack ran back in to grab the minibot.

"Okay," he breathed, "Let's go."

Jack shut the door and Kimiko opened her purse. Out of it slithered Dojo.

"I want to go someplace special…"

"Special," Jack froze, "I-I'm not… no… I can't go somewhere _special_."

"Why not?" she giggled.

"Because this is all I have that isn't work clothes. I couldn't possibly…"

Kimiko grabbed his arm firmly.

"I said 'special' not 'formal'. Now come on."

Dojo took them to a small restaurant in the suburbs of Tokyo.

They walked in to meet head waiter.

"Tohomiko," Jack heard her whisper.

_Reservations! Oh shit… Where am I?_

Kimiko caught the look of terror in Jack's eyes, "Don't worry," she giggled, "It's just a formality."

Jack chuckled nervously as they were lead to a room in the back of the building. They were seated at a table for two against a wall. A small candle shed light across the table from its center. Jack was nearly panicking. Once they were seated, they were each given a menu. A few minutes later, a basket of bread appeared on the table. Jack shook in his seat.

"Calm down," she murmured, "It's okay."

There was a moment of silence before Kimiko put down her menu.

"I know what I want," she announced.

"Oh," Jack mumbled, "Good."

It was an Italian restaurant. Jack never though to look for one in Tokyo. That just proved how much better Kimiko knew the area.

As Jack read the menu cover to cover for the third time, he felt something moving against his leg. Looking across at Kimiko, she was leaning back in her seat and slumped down a bit. At first Jack grinned, but when he felt it again, he lifted the table cloth to find Kimiko's bare foot rubbing the inside of his leg.

"N-no, no," he chuckled as he pushed it away, "That's okay."

He could tell that she was partially disappointed.

Their food came and they ate in silence. Jack sat trying to avoid eye contact, but Kimiko made it very hard. She reached out and scratched the back of the hand he had resting on the table. Pulling it back slowly, Jack picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. Kimiko sat back and continued to eat her food. More than once did she make eating more provocative than it should've been. The way she looked up from her sausage and peppers was all too much. The fact that she _ordered_ sausage and peppers just so she could suck on it and drive him insane was unbearable. He tried to ignore it. He tried so hard. But the noises! Finally, she gave up on subliminal. She stood up from her chair and reached across the table to kiss him, but he stopped her.

"Kimiko," he murmured with his hand in her face, "Not here, please."

"Oh," he heard her voice crack.

She slowly withdrew to her seat.

Jack had done something wrong. Not even an hour into the evening, he had messed everything up. He just wanted to be with her, not have her all over him. He already had a bad feeling about the rest of the night.

After dinner, Jack paid the bill and turned to Kimiko.

"So what now?" he smiled.

"N-nothing," she murmured, "Let's go."

Jack felt his heart shatter. It was a painful feeling as if his heart had actually skipped a vital beat. Fear, despair, and self-hatred filled his mind.

"I'm sorry," he murmured to her back, but she didn't heat him, "So sorry."

He stood back a bit. Her beautiful form stood out in the darkness of the night. He caressed every bit of her with his eyes. He even lifted his hand to softly stroke her hair that was beyond his reach. It was as it should be. He had saddened her and he would pay for it, but at least… at least he could find comfort in knowing that he couldn't hurt her anymore.

Jack got onto Dojo's back and absently wrapped his arms around he supple waist. At first, he felt her tense up, but soon enough, she was relaxed again.

Dojo carried them back to his apartment. Jack slid of onto the fire escape. He didn't want to, but he looked back at his dear Kimiko. She glowed ever brighter on the dragon's back.

"I-I'm sorry, Kimiko," she looked down at him, "I'm sorry I ruined our night together."

"'Ruined'?" she whispered.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

He was soon regretting those words.

Kimiko slid off dojo slowly. Approaching Jack, she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck.

"How about here, then?"

Jack was lost.

"You said not at the restaurant. What about here?"

She scratched the back of his head.

"Kimiko," he murmured, "This isn't a good idea…"

She leaned in close, "How so?" she breathed across his lips.

"Kimiko, I-"

Kimiko planted a small kiss on his pale lips.

"Kimiko…" he whispered as he leaned in to kiss again.

He wrapped his arms around her in desperation. His legs wanted to give out, but he clung to her for dear life. He clung tightly to her dress at the small of her back. His other hand weaved through her beautiful hair.

"I can't," he breathed into her kiss.

"Why not?" She pulled back a bit.

Jack looked down at the ground. Releasing her dress and hair, he stepped back a bit. Opening his coat, he revealed his battered tail wrapped around his waist.

"I'm not human," he sighed, "Not anymore."

"Oh Jack," she gasped, "What happened to it?"

"Nothing," Jack sighed, "It's pretty broken though."

Kimiko crouched down and reached out to the furry object. She touched it gently and it withdrew from his waist and hid behind his back.

"It's really hurt," she said as she looked up into Jack's eyes.

Her eyes… In them, he saw love and understanding. He saw an unfamiliar form of acceptance.

She reached out to him and brushed the side of his face gently.

"It's okay," she breathed, "I understand now," she moved in closer, "I'll keep you company for now, if you don't mind…"

"What do you understand?" he sighed.

"That bastard roommate of yours. I had a bad feeling about him from the start…"

"The start?"

"Yes, the start. He's abusive. I mean, he's so much bigger than you. Crushing someone like you must come easy to a brainless brute like him…"

"Kimiko!" he gasped.

_How could she know all that? How did she figure it out? Who cares? That means she understands my situation! We can still have a good night without sex!_

Jack smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He hadn't felt this happy in so long. Knowing that his dearest Kimiko understood him was wonderful.

Jack opened the door to the apartment and led her in. They sat on the couch commiserating for a while. Talking to someone felt so good to Jack. It was better than anything physical. He never wanted the conversation to end.

With a yawn, Kimiko looked down at her watch.

"Oh geeze," she sighed, "It's late. Could I stay here tonight? I'll leave first thing in the morning, promise."

Jack thought a moment. There was no extra bed in the apartment, but there was the couch.

"Sure, you can sleep out here," he offered.

"Okay," he could hear mild disappointment in her voice. Seemed like he could never say quite the right thing. "Why don't you head back, Dojo?" she asked as she let the dragon out of her purse.

"Great idea," the dragon said sarcastically, "Don't mess the place up," he warned the dragon of fire.

"Don't worry, Dojo," Kimiko laughed, "Everything'll be just fine."

Looking back at Jack, he stood up and walked over to open the door for Dojo. The dragon slithered out and took off into the night.

Jack set up the couch for her to sleep on. Once she was settled in, jack retreated to his own room. Undressing to his boxers, Jack slid under his covers. They _had _had a wonderful night together. Jack was overjoyed with his success. He hadn't let his emotions ruin the evening. Not entirely, anyway. He was just drifting off to sleep when he felt something soft and warm join him in bed. It wrapped its arms around him and kissed him on the nape of his neck. Jack sighed with pleasure.

"I love you…" she whispered into his hair.

"I love you too," he mumbled into his pillow.

Sitting on the back of his desk chair, the minibot continued to record everything.


	10. The Morning After

Jack woke up the next morning to a pang of fear. He could feel his nakedness under the covers, but he remembered going to bed with his boxers on. He felt her soft breath on the back of his neck. He wished he could remember what exactly had happened. Rolling onto his back, he looked across the room at his minibot sleeping on the back of his desk chair. Jack sighed. Whatever happened, he'd know soon enough. He figured that if he was a bit more calm about it, Kimiko wouldn't freak out as much. So he just stayed in bed, struggling to remember what happened after he got into his bed. She came in… She said something… And then everything else was lost in a void of morning-after confusion.

Jack was beginning to get antsy from lying in the bed for so long. He wanted to get up. Maybe make some breakfast for Kimiko. But before he could put his good intentions into action, he heard the soft moans of his lover waking. Closing his eyes tightly and crossing his fingers, Jack waited for a response.

"Mmm," she rolled over, "Hmm," she sighed into his hair, "Jack?" she mumbled.

A false sense of relief washed over him.

Suddenly, he was shoved out of his own bed. Lying on the floor, trying to get oriented, he saw and angry, almost hurt, Kimiko. Her eyes were squinting down at him with tears brimming over the edges.

"Jack," she choked, "Oh, Jack…"

"Kimiko, listen," he tried to explain as he struggled to his feet.

"Oh Jack…" she whispered.

"Kimiko, please…"

"How could you?" she wept softly.

"Kimiko, I- What?"

"How could you?" the tears ran down her face.

"I…"

"I thought we had something special," she cried, "but I guess there was nothing…"

"What are you talking about?" Jack was beginning to panic.

"Why did you have to ruin everything like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like this!" she shouted as she threw the covers back, revealing her beautifuly naked young body, "With your lust! With your inability to just let a good thing happen in time! With your overzealous sex drive! Where are my clothes?"

"In the living room…" Jack stammered.

"I want them!"

Jack stumbled over to the door of his room and turned the knob with a shaky hand. There, on the coffee table in the living room, was Kimiko's red dress sitting neatly folded. Jack snagged it and ran back into his room.

"It's over, Jack," she growled as she furiously struggled into the dress, "I won't let you run this relationship on sex!"

"But…"

"You better hope that you didn't get me fucking pregnant…"

"Kimi-"

"It's men like you that make the world a terrible place," she snarled as she headed for the door.

"Kimiko…" he whimpered.

"Stop sniveling. It doesn't help your case. In fact, it makes you look worse."

"Kimiko…" he whispered.

She was just outside his door when she turned to look back at him.

"Next time you need to fuck something, try hiring a professional whore. Stop preying on people like me!"

With that, she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Jack shrank back into a corner. He knew what was going to happen next.

The minibot had been woken up with all the commotion. It looked down from the back of the chair at Jack. He could feel Jack's need to cry, his frustration with himself, his confusion with everything. As the doorknob to his room turned, he could feel Jack's horrible terror.


	11. Primal

**A/N:** Mmmmm... Filler...

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There was no mercy. Jack's roommate came in to find Jack struggling into his pants.

"Don't bother," the large man said smugly, "This won't take long."

From behind his back, the man revealed a butcher's knife.

"I'm taking the whole thing, Jackie. You've lost your freak privileges."

Jack hastily buttoned his pants. As he reached out to the shirt on his desk chair, the knife came down, barely missing the tips of his fingers.

"Just sit down and it'll be over in no time."

Jack pulled the shirt from under the knife; tearing it from the center of the chest through the collar. As he struggled to get it on, his roommate moved behind him and took hold of his tail.

"We can do it this way then."

The larger man pulled the tail so that he could rest it over the back of the chair.

"Ready?"

"No, please, no," Jack cried.

"You had your chances."

The broken tail laid helplessly over the back of the chair. Jack didn't like it much, but he wasn't about to get it brutally chopped off. He tried to control it to pull it out of the way of the raised blade, but it remained limp. Finally, as the knife came down, Jack mustered whatever strength he had and lunged away, pulling the tail from his roommate's grasp.

"You…" the man hissed.

Jack was quick to regain himself. Once on his feet, he ran out of the room, snagging the Monkey Staff by his door. His roommate was right behind him. As he ran for the door with the staff in hand, Jack felt himself changing. Reaching for his long coat, he felt a rough hand slam down on his shoulder. Spinning around instinctually, Jack was looking into the infuriated eyes of his roommate.

"Holy shit!" the man gasped as he jumped away, "You're…"

Jack barred his teeth.

"You're a fucking monkey!"

Jack let out a primal screech before opening the door and running out on all fours.


	12. Failing

**A/N:**I was kinda out of it when I wrote this so if it seems way too fragmented, let me know. I'll fix it up and repost it. Thanks again for reading!

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Behind a dumpster sat a sunken form. Lying pathetically on its side, clutching furiously at its chest, moaning in pain as the sweat broke over its brow, it cried:

"What's happening to me?"

A tiny voice responded:

"Withdrawal. You weren't ready to let go of the staff…"

"Am… Am I still human?"

The tiny bot looked at the sweat and tear-stained face of its master. Aside from some pretty thick side burns, Jack was still human.

"Yeah…"

"I need help," he gasped as he tightened into a tiny ball, "It hurts…"

The bot looked around helplessly. It only knew one number to call.

In the office of Tohomiko Labs, the phone rang.

"Mushi, mushi?"

"Unit 2564368."

"Oh, the custom bot I made for one of Kimiko's friends. To what do I owe this call? Need a new battery? A checkup perhaps?"

"No, no, can you call Kimiko?"

Mr. Tohomiko paused, "Why?"

"It's… Jack…"

"Jack? That red-haired boy? She wouldn't tell me who she was giving the bot to, I understand why now."

"He needs help…"

"Why not call 911? They could do more good than my daughter…"

He was about to hang up the phone when the tiny voice turned desperate.

"No wait! This is something only the Xiaolin people can help him with…"

Mr. Tohomiko paused a moment before bringing the phone to his ear again.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll call her."

"Thank you so much… Here's our location."

There was a beep on Tohomiko's computer.

"I knew giving you that learning chip was a mistake."

"Thank you, Master Tohomiko!"

Kimiko's father hung up the phone. He hadn't really intended on calling his daughter, but after he sat a while staring at the resting phone, he picked it up again.

Within an hour, a forlorn Kimiko was at Jack's side. Crying and whimpering over his crumpled state.

"What happened?" she wept, "Oh, Jack, what happened?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but an internal shutter only let strange growls come through.

When Kimiko saw his teeth, she immediately looked for and found the Monkey Staff.

"Jack…" she whispered.

Handing the staff to Raimundo, she took Jack up in her arms.

"It'll be okay," she wept into his bright red hair, "I promise."

A small frightened moan that was mistaken for pain slipped from Jack's lips. His red eyes were large in his skull.

"Don't cry, Jackie, everything's gonna be alright…"

"Hey guys," Raimundo murmured to the others, "You think something's wrong with Kimiko?"

"That's saying it lightly. She's called us twice saying that Jack took advantage of her and now she's crying all over him," Clay thought aloud.

"True. It too find Kimiko's recent behavior very odd," Omi mumbled.

"Jack," she sighed, "It'll be okay…"

Jack's eyes widened in terror. A terrible scream came from his body as it went rigid and then rested lifelessly in Kimiko's arms.

"JACK!" she screamed, "NO!"

Raimundo moved over to her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he felt for Jack's pulse.

"It's okay," he murmured, "He's still alive, but barely. We need to get him back to the temple…"

Raimundo reached down to take Jack's body from her.

"NO!" she screamed as she held the body tighter.

"Kimiko," Rai sighed, "It's for the best. Let me take him."

Kimiko looked down at Jack's face. His eyes were partially closed; she could still see a bit of his crimson eyes. They weren't shining. They were dull. All his muscles were relaxed leaving his mouth parted slightly. Kimiko gently touched his lips with her fingers. After kissing him on is forehead, she turned Jack over to Raimundo. With a slight grunt, Rai took Jack into his arms.

"Be careful," she whispered.

As soon as they were back on Dojo's back, they were off to the Xiaolin Temple.


	13. Trapped

Jack woke up the next day with tears in his eyes. He felt sticky and tired. He was lying on his back, on a mat, looking at a wooden ceiling. At first he was disoriented. Where the hell was he? This wasn't the apartment. He looked around the area he occupied before finally realizing where he was.

"Oh, no…" he wept.

He was at the Xiaolin Temple. He was at the mercy of the dragons and he knew that if they truly thought him to be the rapist of a comrade, there would be little mercy to be had…

His body stiffened slightly. He had to get away, but how? How had he even gotten here? He'd run. That's it. He'd just run. He pried his body from the sweaty sheets and stumbled to his feet. He felt light headed as he struggled to catch his balance. Picking up his coat and goggles from the floor, Jack headed out of the cubicle. He took a few steps before remembering that he had no idea how to get out of this place; he hadn't been here in years.

"Hey," he heard a voice call to him.

"Please," he spun around, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it, I'm sorry…"

Raimundo ceased his advancement.

"You okay?"

"Please just let me go and I promise you won't see me again. I never meant to hurt her, I just love her so much…" Jack's breath quickened as Raimundo came closer.

"Calm down," he said gently, "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"That's what you say," his voice shook, "But look at me! You know you want to, so just do it and get it out of the way or let me go, please!" he sobbed.

"Jack…"

"I'm a monster! Just a pathetic monster… I need to rape a girl to feel loved. How sick is that?"

"Jack," Rai sighed, "We don't think you raped her…"

"I can't seem to keep my dick in my pants around her! Wait, what?"

Rai shook his head slowly, "We don't think you raped her."

"So," Jack chuckled nervously, "You favor me over a comrade? Why does that seem so very… unXiaolin?"

"There's something wrong with her," Rai said softly, "You're here to get better. I recommend that you try to avoid Kimiko at all cost. It's for your own good."

Jack agreed. His life wouldn't be any better, but it wouldn't get any worse if he never saw Kimiko again. But how could he avoid her? She _lived_ in the temple. He was just a… guest… Jack didn't like that word. _Guest_ suggested that he was invited and that they intended on entertaining him in some way. Oh sure, he'd be entertained, but not in the good sense of the word. A terrible feeling came over Jack. He'd never leave this place, not alive anyway.

Jack did his best to keep away from any place that Kimiko was known to frequent. He spent most of his time in his room for the first day, but at the end, she found him.

"Hey, jack," she smiled, standing in the doorway to his cubicle.

"H-hi, K-Kimiko," he chuckled nervously.

"What's wrong?" she laughed.

"Ah, well, I don't feel very good…"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she stepped into the room.

"Uh, no. No thank you, Kimiko. I'm okay…"

"You sure?" she knelt down before him, "Because I'm sure that I could help in one way or another."

Her voice had turned sultry and fear gripped Jack's heart. He tried to get around her, but she moved to stop him.

"Come on, Jack, I don't bite…"

Jack wasn't too sure. He got to his feet and tried running for the doorway. If he could just get to where the others could see him, he'd be safe. He got one foot out the door before an arm wrapped around his neck and pulled him back.

"K-Kimiko, please. I don't feel well…"

She looked hurt by his words.

"Oh," she said softly, "I get it. You don't love me anymore…"

"Kimiko," Jack moaned, "I'll always love you…"

"Then why can't we do this? It's not like we've ever done it before…"

Jack's face heated up. Her ignorance was on the verge of driving him truly insane.

"Kimiko, I love you dearly," his eyes softened, "But… I still don't feel well from before. Unless you want me potentially puking all over you, I suggest we take a rain check." He punctuated it with a small chuckle.

"Oh yeah," she had a revelation, "Well, okay," she giggled, "Another time then."

She smiled at him softly as she got to her feet. As she walked out the doorway, she turned to Jack once more and blew him a kiss. As she disappeared, a weight was lifted from Jack's heart. He'd be spared this time, but never again would he be so lucky.


	14. Dying

Jack lived out the rest of his miserable life at the temple, which, luckily form him, wasn't very long. Jack had come to fear the night. It was the night that brought him pain and suffering. She'd come to him, love him, then punish him. Jack never figured out what exactly was going on. He simply believed his lover. After all, there was little evidence against her. He _was _an animal who was madly in love with a beautiful young woman. Jack eventually reasoned that, as being an animal, he probably treated her like one too. He could remember very little from those nights for the pain of the next morning always made him forget any pleasure he once felt.

The other dragons felt helpless. They never much liked Jack, but seeing him with a perpetually lifeless smile, made them hurt. It was like his way of sharing the pain. He would go around smiling like nothing had ever happened. Like Kimiko ha never given him a black eye, or kicked him between the legs, or singed his arm with her fire techniques. Jack was always happy. They tried talking to Kimiko, but it was useless. She didn't have a clue as to what they were even talking about.

One day, Rai found him sitting on a stone bench in the garden, smiling stupidly at nothing.

"Hey, Jack," Raimundo called.

"Hm?" he turned to them, "Oh hi!" he smiled.

"Hey, how's everything?" Rai said as he sat beside Jack.

"Fine, why?"

Jack was smiling that stupid smile.

"Because you don't look so good," Rai pointed out, making sure to laugh at the end.

"Oh, really? Think Kimiko'll notice? I hope not…" for a minute he looked crestfallen then he looked to Rai once more, "I wonder what she's up to…"

"Well, um… Jack, did you know there was a gash in your arm?"

Jack looked down at the bloody slit in his shirt, "Oh yeah, look at that. Hm. Wonder where it came from… Probably did something stupid," he smiled.

"Come on," Rai pulled him to his feet, "We gotta fix it before it gets infected."

"With what?" Jack asked simply.

"I don't know, something…"

"A disease?"

"Yeah, Jack. Now, come on…"

"That's okay. I already have a disease."

"Huh?" Ria let go of his arm.

"Yeah," Jack sighed, "I'm an abuser…"

"Jack," Rai groaned, "No you're not…"

"Yes I am and you know it. I know it. The others know it. And yet you do nothing about it! Raimundo, she's such a good person," his eyes glazed over, "She makes me smile. She loves me. No matter how many times I betray her love for me, she still loves me. What do you think that says about her?"

"Um…"

"She's beautiful and she deserves better…"

"Jack, geeze, there's nothing wrong with you…"

"Come on Rai," Jack looked up to the Dragon of Wind, "You know as well as I do that I'm not even human."

"Jack…"

"How can an animal ever hope to make a girl, no, a woman, like Kimiko ever feel happy?"

"Well…"

"It can't. Therefore, I can't."

"Jack…" Rai sighed.

"I'll leave her, someday. I'll abandon her like the monster I am. But, it'll give her a chance to find the right person for her. Her true soul mate. Something I can never be…"

A tear rolled down Jack's cheek, but he was still smiling.

"Listen," Raimundo wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "Kimiko's… well, she's got a… problem…"

"How so?" Jack sniffed.

"Jack, don't you know what's really going on?"

"I abuse her."

"No, she abuses you!"

Jack stood up suddenly and laughed.

"Impossible! I'm the man in this relationship. Women don't take advantage of men! God, Rai, what kind of twisted logic is that? Besides! I can't even call myself a man! I'm a monkey. A very sentient monkey. But that's it."

"Is that all you think you are?"

"Rai, that's what I _know_ I am. For the first time in my life, I know who I am, or rather, what I am. And that's an abusive ape," Jack laughed.

"Oh…" Rai sighed.

"Ah, I'm hungry," Jack thought aloud, "I think I'll go make her some lunch…"

And he walked off.

Jack was falling apart. It was obvious to everyone but Kimiko. Rai had always felt for the Japanese girl, but now he was sorry that he had ever had feelings for her. She was killing someone who she honestly thought she loved. And at some level, Rai was happy that it wasn't himself.


	15. Bleeding

The final blow came one cool morning.

Jack woke up beside Kimiko. He laid in silence trying to recall what had happened the night before. As usual, all he remembered was the ecstasy felt in her arms. He never wanted those arms to let him go, but they did. Now she was asleep, but soon she'd be awake and the pain would come.

Kimiko's eyes flickered open. Jack looked down at her and smiled. Kimiko's eyes widened as she shoved him away from herself. Pulling a dagger out from beneath her bed mat, Kimiko threw the blade at Jack. It ploughed through his left shoulder, barely missing his heart. Jack laid on the floor panting and moaning in pain as Kimiko ran off.

The blood leaked from his shoulder into her bed mat. He was saddened that he was dirtying her things. Slowly, he stumbled to his feet. Putting on his coat, he folded up the bed mat and carried it to the nearby stream where he'd clean it for her.

As Jack walked through the temple, he found Kimiko crying to Rai. Heat filled Jack's face. His heart ached so badly. Rai glanced at him in understanding. Jack walked off with the bloody bed roll.

Later he returned with the roll and hung it on a line to dry. It was quiet around the temple today. Jack couldn't figure out why, but he had made it into the temple without seeing a single dragon. He sighed in relief as he leaned on one of the banisters and looked out at the courtyard. He sighed at how the beauty so resembled his dear Kimiko. His mind got lost on the thought of her overwhelming beauty. He wanted to hold her right then and there, but he didn't want to suffer the consequences.

"Hey, Jack."

Jack turned to find Clay leaning on the banister beside him.

"What's up?" Jack asked lightly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Jack laughed, "I'm fine!"

He turned to the dragon.

Clay's blue eyes widened, "Uh, Jack? Is that a knife in your shoulder?"

Jack looked down, "Why, yes it is!" he looked up and smiled.

"We gotta get that out of you before…"

"Look, I find it amazing how you are all so ready to help me, but when I abuse poor Kimiko, you turn the other cheek. Please, stop trying to help me and my wretched life. It isn't worth your time…"

"Okay, Jack," Clay altered his tactics, "But I wouldn't want you going around with a blade sticking out of your chest. You might hurt someone."

"Like my dear Kimiko!" Jack gasped and then he relaxed, "No. This could be a blessing. It could help me wean myself off her. I mean, with this knife here, we can't exactly touch each other without her getting hurt. Therefore, we'll both lose interest and that'll be that!"

"Jack!"

Jack turned the other way.

"Kimiko!"

"What happened to you?" she screeched.

"Huh?" he smiled, "Nothing, why?"

"There's a knife sticking out of you! What happened? Who did this to you? Jack! What's going on?" she was weeping.

Jack reached out and gently touched her on the cheek.

"Everything is fine," he murmured, "Everything is just fine, my dear."

"Jack," she shook hear head, "That's not good. It _has_ to come out and you need help…"

Jack rested a finger on her worried lips, "No. it's fine where it is. It isn't hurting anyone.

"Jack?" tears streamed down her face.

"it's happy here, in my chest. It's there so that I'll treat you better…"

"What?"

"Kimiko, this will stop me from abusing you!" his smile was maddening.

"I…"

"It's a blessing Kimiko. Now we can love each other at a distance. Who needs touch? That's just a superfluous add-on to life. Sure it can feel good, but it can hurt too, this just stops it all."

"I don't understand, Jack… Who did this to you?"

Jack just smiled stupidly.

"You did," Clay said as he faced Kimiko.

"What?" she screamed, "How can you say that, Clay?"

"'Cause ya' did."

"No," she cried, "I didn't…"

"Yeah," Clay murmured, "Ya' did."

"How?" she barked, "How and why would I do this to Jack? I love him!"

"Kimiko, there's something wrong with you. You seem to think you love him when all you do is treat him worse'n dirt. You put that knife in his chest, Kimiko!"

"You really think so, huh, Clay?" she walked around Jack and pulled the knife out of his back, "Well, if that's the case, then I took it out too."

"Amazing," Clay said unenthusiastically.

"Come on, Jack," she slung his arm over her shoulder and lead him back to her room, "Let's get you fixed up."

As he was lead away, Jack looked back at Clay and smiled. Things wouldn't go on like this for much longer. Clay knew what Jack was going to do.


	16. The Pain of Reality

The cool morning air drifted into the cubicle. The smell of ozone and rain came with it. The day was overcast with dark clouds. Jack could hear the trees swaying in the breeze. It was a calming sensation that he knew wouldn't last very long.

Jack looked to his side where she was laying. With a heavy sigh, he gently ran his fingers through her hair. It was soft, so soft. It was probably softer than any angel's hair. Jack sighed once more as he returned to lying on his back. He stared up at the wooden ceiling for some time, until the soft murmur of voices came to him.

"Great," he wanted to cry, "Now I'm hearing voices."

Jack sat up slowly to find two minibots sitting on the bedside table.

"Huh? What's going on here?" he laughed.

"Good morning," the one that looked like Kimiko smiled.

"Uh…" Jack wasn't sure about how to answer her.

"Hey," his counterpart turned to him.

Jack grinned, "I guess you have a friend," Jack laughed.

"Yeah," mini-Jack put an arm around her waist.

"Do you love her?"

"You know the answer to that, Jack," the bot smiled.

"Do you treat her well?"

The minibot sighed, "I treat her just like you would."

Jack's smile faded, "Then I think that you should leave her…"

"Jack," the minibot stood up, "I have something that I want to show you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, remember that night you told me to record you two?"

"Oh, you can erase that data. It's unimportant…"

"I think you should see it before I delete it."

"Okay," Jack laughed, "But what will it show me, besides my terrible treatment of Kimiko?"

"Just watch, okay?"

Jack sat in silence as the images projected from the minibot danced across the far wall. He felt his heart shatter at the sad realization of the truth. On the footage, he was lying in bed when Kimiko entered the room. She got under the covers with him and began speaking to him.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too…" he said, "No," he heard himself murmur, "This isn't right…"

"Jack," she murmured into the back of his head, "It _is_ right. We love each other."

He rolled over to face her.

"I might hurt you," he murmured.

"Jack," she sighed.

"Besides, we had a good night. You can sleep with me if you want, but no sex."

A scowl crossed her face.

"Listen, Jack, I don't think you understand who I am."

He watched the fear creep into his own eyes.

"I'm Kimiko Tohomiko. My father is Kiyoshi Tohomiko and he owns one of the largest corporations in Japan. If you want to continue your life here, you'll do what I want."

"K-Kimiko…" his voice shook.

"Shut up, pussy," she snarled, "You won't fight me, you can't. Jack Spicer doesn't have the balls to beat off a girl."

"I thought you said you loved me…"

"I do and this is how I want our relationship to be."

"Please, Kimiko…"

"Shut up," there was a violent motion under the covers and, after some flailing, Jack's boxers were on the floor.

"This isn't what I wanted…"

"I don't care," she hissed into his ear, "It's what _I_ want that matters."

"Turn it off," Jack whispered, "Please."

The minibot did as it was told.

Jack sat in silence. He stared blankly at the empty wall before him.

"Jack," the minibot whispered, "You had to see that…"

"So," his gaze slowly shifted to Kimiko, "She… She raped… me?"

"I'm sorry," Kimiko's minibot stood beside his own.

"No, that's…" Jack laughed quietly, "How?" his laughter grew louder, "I mean, girls don't rape guys… do they?"

"Well," the bot looked down, "That's what happened. There's more. She does it again… You wanna…"

"No," Jack cut it off, "I… I need a walk."

Jack stood up carefully as not to wake the sleeping Kimiko. As Jack walked out the doorway, the minibot collapsed.

"We have to stop him," he groaned.

"Why? What's he gonna do?" the Kimiko bot was on the verge of tears.

"He's going for the monkey staff. If he gets it, one of two things will happen. He'll either be reduced to nothing more than a chimp… or he'll die. His heart won't be able to handle the change…"

"What the hell can we do?" Kimi-bot growled, "We're tiny robots! He could step on us if he wanted to…"

"Well, we gotta try…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Jack," the voice stopped him as he was about to descend into the vault, "Looking for this?"

Jack turned to Raimundo who was holding the Monkey Staff.

"Please, give it to me…"

"Find another way to make yourself suffer. Or, better yet, get some help. Shen Gong Wu were not intended to be used as suicide tools."

"I…"

"Jack, you don't have to stay with her. You can always leave," Jack slumped a bit, "Look, I know a nice place in Rio where you can hang out. If you want, I can hook you up with my cousin. He's got a spare room…"

"Rai," Jack screeched, "Look at me," he laughed, "Take a good look. I'm not human any more. No one wants me. I know you mean well, but… You should know that nothing will work for me anymore. I can't go back to Tokyo and I can't stay here. I… I have to leave…"

Rai sighed, "Where you gonna go?"

"Away. Far away from here. Don't tell Kimiko it's her fault…"

"So you finally figured it out…"

Jack sighed, "You can laugh now."

"Laugh at what?"

"I know you were just holding it to be nice."

"Jack, what am I gonna laugh about?"

"That I got raped. That Kimiko raped me…"

Rai was stunned. He looked to the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to say something, but how does one guy talk to another guy about getting raped?

"Listen," Rai sighed, "I'm not going to laugh. I… I feel sorry for you."

"Eh," Jack shrugged, "I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity. I… I honestly feel for you…"

Jack laughed, "How? What do you mean? How the hell can you, Raimundo, the almighty Xiaoling Dragon of Wind, feel sorry for me?" his laughter was reaching the point of insanity, "I'm Jack Spicer! You made my teenaged years a living nightmare! I think I'm finally rid of you and you show up six years later and ruin my life! You let your little whore fuck me and then you say you're sorry! You're fucking sorry! Ha! That's hilarious! Don't you see? Don't you see how utterly and totally hilarious my entire life is? I loved her! I loved her with all my heart! And I got raped. I didn't even know it! I… I figured that I would've given her consent, but I didn't. Wanna know how I know? I made this porn vid with the minibot she gave me. I watched it. And you know what? I didn't get an erection or anything. All I got were tears in my eyes and an aching feeling in my chest where my fucking heart is supposed to be! But it's not. Know why? I sold it to that bitch who did nothing but swallow it whole leaving me broken and devoid of the last of my dignity! I can't do this anymore!" Jack bolted out of the room, shoving Raimundo to the ground.

Jack ran. He ran across the temple grounds with tears streaming out of his eyes until he found dojo lounging in a hammock tied between two bonsai trees.

"Dojo," he wept as he collapsed to his knees, "Please," he cried, "please!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on here?" Dojo sat up in the hammock.

"I… I gotta go…"

"Go where, Jack?"

"Away," he moaned, "Just away."

Dojo watched as Jack gripped the sides of his head and began rocking back and forth.

"Hey, calm down. It's okay…"

"Oh, but it isn't…" Jack snarled, "I need to die, Dojo. Will you help me do that?"

"L-listen," Dojo backed away slowly, "I-I don't believe in assisted suicide…"

"Oh, but it wouldn't be suicide. It would be a mercy killing…"

"Jack, we can work things out through other means. I mean, have you tried talking to someone?"

"Talk's expensive, but life is cheap. It's easier just to spend it. So what do you say? Huh? Wanna give me a hand? Please?"

"And, uh, how would I help you in ending your life?"

"You're a dragon! You could eat me…"

Dojo shuddered, "Sorry, but I'm on a diet."

"Oh," Jack sat back. His red eyes glazed over.

"Was that your only plan?" Dojo asked with a hint of relief.

"I have one more."

Jack reached into his jacket and pulled out a shiny knife.

"Whoa!" Dojo backed up, "You don't need that…"

"For plan B, I have to use it…"

"What?"

"It's the knife from my chest. Kimiko gave it to me," his body slumped a bit, "Take me away from here so I can finish what she started…"

"Huh?"

"Just take me far away and leave me…"

Dojo sighed. He saw the terrible pain in Jack's eyes, he wanted to help, but he knew that nothing he could say would change Jack's mind. Dojo got out of his hammock and morphed into his larger form.

"Hop on," Jack gave him a weak smile before getting onto his back, "Got an idea where you want to go?"

"Someplace cold," Jack whispered into Dojo's scales, "Far away and cold…"

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"Where is he?" Kimiko ran around the temple desperately, "Where did Jack go?"

As she ran, Raimundo caught her in his arms, "He's gone, Kimiko. He took off on Dojo's back a while ago."

"No…" Kimiko whispered; her eyes glazed over.

"He's gone," Rai shook her.

"Why would he leave me?" she droned.

"You killed him! You killed him, Kimiko!"

"No!" She shoved Rai away, "He wouldn't leave me! He wouldn't! He loves me!"

"But you don't love him," Rai snarled.

"Rai!" she screamed, "How could I not love him?'

Raimundo wrapped his hand around her wrist.

"I'll show you," he growled.

Kimiko sat through the minibot's recordings; all of them. By the end, she was silent.

"Well?" Raimundo barked, "What d'ya think?"

Kimiko continued to stare blankly at the blank wall.

"Come on, Kimiko, you always have something to say, why is this suddenly an exception?"

"No…" she murmured.

"What's that?" Rai cocked his head.

"No…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry; I missed that, care to try again?"

"NO!" she screamed, "This isn't right! It can't be! I would never…" Suddenly, she was silent.

"So you remember now…"

"Why couldn't I remember?"

"It's a defense mechanism," her minibot explained, "You were afraid to have sex, especially with someone you loved, like Jack. So you instinctively killed all passion so you couldn't feel or remember anything afterwards. It comes from an overproduction of adrenaline. You went into a primal setting that allowed you to see sex as nothing more than a task that needed conquering. You'd wake up disoriented and seeing Jack sparked denial, so you took your anger out on him. Then, after all was said and done, the hormones would die away and it would be like nothing happened. You always remembered everything, you just refused to acknowledge any of it,"

"Why didn't he say anything?" she whispered, "Why didn't he tell me I was hurting him?"

"Because he loved you…"

"Loved?"

Rai sighed, "Kimiko, he's probably dead by now…"

"No," the minibot interrupted, "If Jack was dead, my program would be terminated."

"Then he's still alive?" Kimiko shouted frantically, "Where?"

"I can show you…"

Kimiko grabbed the minibot.

"Can I come?" a small voice came after her, "I love him."

Kimiko turned to find her own minibot standing on the edge of the nightstand. Silently, she picked up the tiny toy and headed for the vault.

"Silver Manta Ray," she called once she was out in the courtyard.

"Kimiko," Rai called as she got into the Wu.

"Rai, I have to do this alone. I want him to know how I really feel…"

"So what is it?" Rai asked as he stepped back.

Tears welled up in Kimiko's eyes, "I love him."

There was a moment of silence before the cockpit closed and Kimiko took off into the sky.

Raimundo sighed. He knew Kimiko was cured, but it was too late for Jack.

The air was thick with white clouds. Kimiko flew low with the Manta Ray, hoping to spot a shadow through the clouds. She was hoping that Dojo would still be with him; the shadow of a dragon is easier to spot than that of a human body.

"There!" Jack's minibot pointed out the windshield.

Kimiko spotted the shadow and turned the Wu around for a landing. They touched ground a few feet away from Dojo. Kimiko grabbed the bots as she jumped out of the vehicle.

"Dojo!" she shouted across the freezing wind.

"Huh?" the dragon looked behind himself, "Oh, Kimiko!"

"Where is he?" she shouted.

Dojo looked down to where his body was coiled to keep warm. Wrapped in his tail, was Jack's unconscious form. He looked frozen with a knife clutched in his hand.

"He babbled until he fell asleep," Dojo explained, "I did my best to keep him warm, but, heh, I'm cold-blooded."

"Jack!' Kimiko shouted, "Wake up! Wake up, Jack! I love you! I really do! I'm sorry for what I've done to you! I'm sorry! Come on, wake up. It'll work this time, I promise!"

"Kimiko," Dojo stopped her, "Did you ever think that enough was just enough?"

The minibots climbed out of Kimiko's jacket pocket. They scrambled over to Jack's body. Mini-Jack collapsed while Mini-Kimiko approached Jack's frozen face.

"I love you," she whispered, "Please don't die…"

She ran her tiny hand through his thick sideburns.

"There's… nothing…" Mini-Jack collapsed.

"No," Kimiko panted as she picked the minibots up and put them back in her pocket, "I need to get him back to the Manta Ray!"

"Good thing you brought it, because I'm too cold to fly…"

Kimiko laid Jack's body across the back seat. The minibots and Dojo flew in the back with jack.

"Hang in there," Kimiko shouted as she got into the driver's seat, "We'll be back at the temple in no time."

Kimiko took off into the air. As she flew, she looked up into the rearview mirror.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fading," Dojo announced.

Mini-Kimiko sat on Jack's chest holding Mini-Jack in her arms.

"Please don't leave me…"

"Keep him alive!" Kimiko called.

"There's really nothing I can do…"

"You're a magical dragon!"

"Yeah, but I can't stop someone from dying!"

"Can't this thing go any faster!" Kimiko shouted.

"Just fly it!" Dojo yelled as he slithered into the passenger's seat beside her.

Mini-Kimiko gasped as the bot in her arms went rigid.

Jack's red eyes opened for an instant. Kimiko caught the ruby orbs in the rearview mirror. As she spun around to face him, he murmured something before closing his eyes again.

"Jack?" she shook, "Jack?" she called, "Jack?" she wept, "JACK!" she screamed.

His body relaxed as the last of him was gone.

"Sorry…" Mini-Jack cried, "So sorry…"

The façade of Jack Spicer melted from the tiny robot's form, leaving behind a blank, lifeless slate. Mini-Kimiko held the empty shell in her tiny arms.

"Good bye," she whispered.


	17. Closure

Landing back at the temple, a somber feeling covered the entire temple. Jack's body was removed from the Manta Ray and treated as though he were a member of the temple. It was done out of respect to counter Kimiko's behavior. Once he was buried and gone, Kimiko went to her father with the broken toy.

"Daddy?"

"What is it, Kimiko?"

"Can… Can you fix it?" she handed him the minibot.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well, its owner… well… Jack died…"

"Ah," Mr. Tohomiko sighed, "I'm afraid this cannot be fixed. It is part of the design. The minibot was programmed to sync itself with Jack's consciousness. Now that that is gone, so is this robots activity…"

"It had a learning program, right?"

"Kimiko, a robot can never replace a human being. Let the boy rest," he took the bot from her, "Go back to the temple and be with your friends. If you need to talk to someone, talk to your friends. I think they may understand all this better than I do."

Kimiko sighed, "Here," she handed her father another minibot.

"What's this?"

"It's mine."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"She loved him…"

Mr. Tohomiko looked between the two toys.

"Kimiko, robots cannot love, my dear, only humans can," he tried to hand the bot back to his daughter.

"No thanks," she sniffed, "I-I'll see you later."

Kimiko walked out of her father's office and on to Dojo's back.

"I need to pick up some flowers," she murmured, "The plot looks so bare…"

Fin

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**A/N: **So, any good? I hope I answered your questions or if not, that you at least liked the story. I'm already working on another Jack fic. He doesn't die, promise. It'll be a good one, better than this, I think. Eh, actually it's completely different. So if you care, look out for **_Raising Jackie_**. : ) Booyeah! I must say, if it wasn't for these fics, I would have died already, they're really helping me get through the adjustment to college life... Eh, whatever. Read and write on!


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